About Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues
Some personalities are born to make a difference in people’s lives. One such towering personality was Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues, visionary, educationist and philanthropist. He was a member of The Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier, Pilar, Goa.
“My Land and My People! It is all that matters”. This was the motto of his life. It came true when Fr. Agnel Ashram at Bandra, Mumbai was founded in 1957. It was the product of his labour of love for India. It had a humble beginning with a small shrine of Ven. Fr. Agnel, a Balbhavan orphanage with 12 orphans, and a workshop to train them in the trade of carpentry.
Soon after its Independence, India found itself in the grip of the Industrial Revolution. The country would require thousands of skilled workers and Engineers if the revolution was to succeed. Fr. Conceicao saw his opportunity to contribute towards the progress of the nation by starting a Technical Education Complex at Bandra, comprising a technical school, engineering college, technical training centre and several other institutes.
Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues served the cause of freedom, national integration, social justice, protection of orphans and technical education. He sowed the seed for man’s prosperity and the tree blossomed.
Today, we have centres of learning, not just in Bandra, but also at Vashi, Verna and Assagao in Goa, Pune, Ambernath, Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida and Vaishali.